When does experimental use end and potentially trigger a public use bar?
The transition from experimental use to a potential public use bar occurs when the inventor relinquishes control over the invention. The MPEP states: Once a period of experimental activity has ended and supervision and control has been relinquished by an inventor without any restraints on subsequent use of an invention, an unrestricted subsequent use of the invention is a pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b) bar.
This means that after the experimental phase, if an inventor allows unrestricted use of the invention without maintaining control or imposing limitations, it could trigger the public use bar under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b). Inventors should be cautious about maintaining control even after the primary experimentation period to avoid unintentionally creating a bar to patentability.
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